| Birmingham at home - my personal view 08:50 - Oct 30 with 1314 views | saint901 |
It was a good win against a poor side. Given that we have to beat all the poor sides we meet (including Millwall at the weekend), then the team did all that was asked of them.
As to whether this is a vindication of the possession based football style that RM wants, we shall have to wait and see because better sides than BFC have to come to play us.
It was good to see some individual performances as well. I thought Charlie Alcaraz had a good game as did KWP (Aside from gifting BFC a goal). Armstrong A & S kept going even when they made runs that were not seen. The third goal was a confidence booster for AA and deserved.
So a good win but let's not get carried away because BFC were poor and should have had a penalty when Bazunu flattened the striker (what was he thinking?)
I am concerned that when BFC started the second half positively and had us back peddling for 15 minutes, there was no plan to contain them or exploit the fact that their defensive line had pushed up and left a lot of space behind. With a speed merchant like Sulemana up front, a long out ball would have at least forced their defenders to take a few steps back.
Instead we continued to play as though possession was king and although BFC did not really make a decent chance (we gifted them that), a better team would have perhaps scored.
Smallbone seems a bit lost. He looks like he's not sure if he should be available to the ball carrier square or just in front and his default is to receive the ball and immediately give it back. At best this keeps the ball. At worst it robs us of momentum and if I were BFC's manager, I would have asked my players not to bother marking him until he was 20 yards out.
The ref was poor. On another day we might have seen a red card for the tackle on KWP, and a penalty.
As I say, the test will be whether we can get this sort of result against a top 6 team. The lack of plan B is a concern.
We do need between 4 and 6 better results than Leicester and Ipswich over the remainder of the season to get promoted. I think Ipswich may falter but not Leicester. Are we 4 results better than Ipswich?
Overall an improvement but still much to work on and still for me looking fragile when under pressure. |  | | |  |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:34 - Oct 30 with 1251 views | SaintNick |
Whilst Birmingham might have been a poor side we should also consider that we started last weekend against Hull below Birmingham, I don't think there is much to choose between most of the sides in this division, Leicester for me are the only side so far to show that they have what it takes to go the distance, Ipswich might struggle when it gets tougher in the winter and then there is us and Leeds, after that literally everyone bar the current bottom 3 could get into the play offs.
Yes Birmingham did have a short spell when we were backpedalling, but that is usually the case in any game, even when a side is poor they usually have at least one good spell. |  |
| Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime |
| |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:44 - Oct 30 with 1229 views | SalisburySaint |
It was noticeable Saturday that that Saints mixed it up a bit, it wasn’t all short tippy tippy, but plenty of long balls in there too.
Our general play is still a work in progress, but many of those, who have like me who’ve attended all games are noticing how our style of play are developing, based around trying to keep possession [Post edited 30 Oct 2023 10:08]
|  | | |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:54 - Oct 30 with 1221 views | Chesham_Saint |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:44 - Oct 30 by SalisburySaint |
It was noticeable Saturday that that Saints mixed it up a bit, it wasn’t all short tippy tippy, but plenty of long balls in there too.
Our general play is still a work in progress, but many of those, who have like me who’ve attended all games are noticing how our style of play are developing, based around trying to keep possession [Post edited 30 Oct 2023 10:08]
|
I haven't been to all the games Salisbury, but I certainly appreciate your point of view (and the OP's too). I enjoyed Saturday, but it worries me (and I have to admit I am really not at all keen on Rylan) but the constant tippy tappy he espouses (especially at the back) is a worry. |  |
| |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:54 - Oct 30 with 1220 views | Berber |
A good summary. Alcaraz too was making good runs that were often ignored. If Smallbone’s role is to be a plank to bounce the ball off, he did it tolerably well. For me, he gave the ball away too easily when attempting basic passes, then does little to recover it. Our defence far outshone theirs, but theirs was abysmal. However, all you can do it beat the team in front of you, which we did.
An enjoyable watch. |  | | |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 10:35 - Oct 30 with 1170 views | Butty101 |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:54 - Oct 30 by Berber |
A good summary. Alcaraz too was making good runs that were often ignored. If Smallbone’s role is to be a plank to bounce the ball off, he did it tolerably well. For me, he gave the ball away too easily when attempting basic passes, then does little to recover it. Our defence far outshone theirs, but theirs was abysmal. However, all you can do it beat the team in front of you, which we did.
An enjoyable watch. |
We seem to get the rub of the green with refs in this league.
Had VAR been available then our first goal gets chalked off for offside and Baz is sent off for assaulting the brum forward. 1-1 at halftime and down to 10men would have been a different game for sure.
Still 70% possession and we are not creating a hatful of chances. I dont think our forwards have great movement. hopefully that will improve with the new striker. I think Stu Armstong is our most creative player and would like to see him play behind the forward |  |
| |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 10:44 - Oct 30 with 1162 views | Chesham_Saint |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 10:35 - Oct 30 by Butty101 |
We seem to get the rub of the green with refs in this league.
Had VAR been available then our first goal gets chalked off for offside and Baz is sent off for assaulting the brum forward. 1-1 at halftime and down to 10men would have been a different game for sure.
Still 70% possession and we are not creating a hatful of chances. I dont think our forwards have great movement. hopefully that will improve with the new striker. I think Stu Armstong is our most creative player and would like to see him play behind the forward |
Fair point, Butty, - our forwards generally may not have great movement, but credit where it's due, Adam Armstrong runs his arse off for the team and is a constant nuisance to the opposition. He took his goal on Saturday well too, | |
| |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 11:03 - Oct 30 with 1142 views | Butty101 |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 10:44 - Oct 30 by Chesham_Saint |
Fair point, Butty, - our forwards generally may not have great movement, but credit where it's due, Adam Armstrong runs his arse off for the team and is a constant nuisance to the opposition. He took his goal on Saturday well too, |
He does put in a shift and is our top scorer. | |
| |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 12:08 - Oct 30 with 1076 views | saints__fan__73 |
Funnily enough the goals weren't from tippy tappy play but two crosses. One for a CB to head home and the other due to the fastest bloke in the league beating his man and putting in a cross for a tap-in.
At least Martin seem to show evidence of being able to get out of his own way. |  |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 13:09 - Oct 30 with 1031 views | SonicBoom |
Things do seem to be improving mainly because Martin is changing the things that all of us moaners were moaning about. We don't mess around in our own box as much, we put our foot through it when we need to and we get the ball forward quicker through midfield.
Hopefully having a decent striker will really change the dynamic of the team. The one thing we need to sort is the malaise that settles in when we are in front. We should have stuffed Birmingham but something seems to happen to the mentality where we just freeze and our passing becomes so tentative. Everyone sees it including the opposition.
Credit to them Saturday as they just about shook it off in time and saw out the game. |  | | |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 13:32 - Oct 30 with 1004 views | DorsetIan |
I think that we are so 'tippy tappy' when in possession that if the other side gets the ball and attacks us with speed and force, we are just struggling to shift mentally from tippy tippy to robust solid defence and hence we seem very flimsy and have conceded an awful lot of soft goals.
I am not sure about Alcaraz. He makes a lot of wayward passes from midfield and he doesn't seem that comfortable in possession when he's under any sort of pressure.
Really like Harwood-Bellis. Bree looked better than Manning. Lots of other good solid performances.
Birmingham were poor for much of the game. Extraordinarily static without the ball. | |
| |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 13:58 - Oct 30 with 980 views | saint901 |
We saw some decent runs from AA, Alcaraz, Fraser (he should have at least hit the target when he tried to chip the keeper). Sulemana tried a couple but I think he backs his pace and doesn't need to go early.
I hope that they continue to make those runs because then the midfield players may gain some confidence to try the pass forward (rather then be sent to train with the remedial class on Monday and be taught how to pass sideways).
Absolutely mystified how Bednarek was man of the match when BFC posed little or no threat and he had little to do. He did mess up a clearing header which put KWP under pressure and led to the goal but otherwise what did he do?
I think I may have given man of the match to Stuart Armstrong. | | | |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 14:06 - Oct 30 with 976 views | GRIM |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 10:35 - Oct 30 by Butty101 |
We seem to get the rub of the green with refs in this league.
Had VAR been available then our first goal gets chalked off for offside and Baz is sent off for assaulting the brum forward. 1-1 at halftime and down to 10men would have been a different game for sure.
Still 70% possession and we are not creating a hatful of chances. I dont think our forwards have great movement. hopefully that will improve with the new striker. I think Stu Armstong is our most creative player and would like to see him play behind the forward |
Good point about VAR.
The lack of VAR in this lge has contributed to a lot of decisions going our way.
With VAR we'd be mid table at best, but I'm a believer in decisions & luck balancing out over a full season so we can expect some decisions going against in coming games. | | | |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 09:07 - Oct 31 with 781 views | darthvader |
| Birmingham at home - my personal view on 14:06 - Oct 30 by GRIM |
Good point about VAR.
The lack of VAR in this lge has contributed to a lot of decisions going our way.
With VAR we'd be mid table at best, but I'm a believer in decisions & luck balancing out over a full season so we can expect some decisions going against in coming games. |
It has missed a few too . That should have gone our way . Penalty up at Sunderland is one .
A couple of decisions in this game too
So the balancing act is well and truly balancing lets hip it tips in our favour at Millwall |  |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
